Abstract

This data analysis finds uses publicly-accessible demographic data to determine if communities have higher rates of renting depending on their Hispanic and white non-Hispanic population percentages. It finds evidence that, controlling for other economic variables, as a ZIP code’s residents become more white non-Hispanic, the percentage of residents renting falls. It also finds evidence that as a ZIP code’s residents become more Hispanic, the percentage of residents renting increases.

Background

Due to the impacts of colonial settlement of North America and legacies of discriminatory property laws, white non-Hispanic Americans have had official encouragement and assistance accumulating land and wealth. On the other hand, Hispanic Americans, who had practically no presence on the East Coast until the last century and suffered under unfair housing, labor, and immigration laws, have not had the same opportunity to accumulate property. Therefore, it is this analysis’ expectation that the wealth disparity between these two groups will be reflected in communities’ rental rates. Controlling for other indicators of economic status such as college education, the percentage of the population in poverty, and the percentage of the population without health insurance, are Maryland ZIP codes with higher percentages of non-Hispanic white residents correlated with lower rates of renting than ZIP codes with higher percentages of Hispanic residents? This question has important implications for targeted first-time homeowner programs, wealth inequality in the state, and the effects of history on Maryland’s population.

Data

Results

The following graph shows Maryland’s ZIP codes’ non-Hispanic white population percentage and renting percentage, with a line of best fit caculated using OLS:

The following graph shows Maryland’s ZIP codes’ Hispanic population percentage and renting percentage, with a line of best fit caculated using OLS:

Discussion

The data show that an increase in a ZIP code’s non-Hispanic white population is associated with a decrease in the percentage of that ZIP code’s population that rents. The data also show that an increase in a ZIP code’s Hispanic population is associated with a increase in the percentage of that ZIP code’s population that rents. the regression analysis finds that both of these relationships are statistically significant, meaning that, holding constant two communities’ college educations, health insurance coverage, and poverty, the more Hispanic community should have a higher percentage of renters than the more non-Hispanic white community.

This points to a larger phenomenon across Maryland and the rest of the United States: the wealth disparity between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites is both created by patterns of historical wealth accumulation and perpetuated by the realities of renting. When a Hispanic family rents a home, that rent is not put toward their future wealth: it is profit for someone else. When a white family pays mortgage on a home, that mortgage will eventually end and that house will belong to them. no amount of renting ends with the renter owning the apartment. This perpetuates the wealth gap between the two groups and keeps many Hispanics trapped in the cycle of labor exploitation and relative economic and political powerlessness.